Voices Carry
by Cassia282
Summary: "Never trust a survivor, until you know what they did to survive." It's been six years since the rain became deadly. Since then, Celine has been doing everything she can to stay alive. Patrick/OC Rated M: for language and violence
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1! Edited to hopefully suck slightly less. Nothing is really different than before, just rewritten slightly so it reads better. Hope y'all like it!

* * *

If someone offered me a million dollars to tap dance right now, I couldn't do it. At most, I could summon the energy to punch them in the nose. We've been walking for hours. Years, actually, without fresh food or water. Lea is about to pass out from hunger and exhaustion and Patrick looks like he's sleepwalking, but Martin won't let us stop. Jean's incessant humming isn't helping anyone's mood either.

"Jean?" Martin calls from the front of the group.

"Yeah?" Jean asks.

"Shut up." I laugh and Lea gives Jean a sympathetic look. Jean just rolls his eyes.

"At least hum a different song." Beatrice suggests. "It's been Dancing Queen all day."

"Please. ABBA sucks." Patrick adds.

"Shut up, Patrick." Jean bites back.

"What do you want him to hum, Patrick?" I ask him. "Death metal?"

"How do you hum death metal?" Patrick asks me snidely.

"The same way you hum anything else, idiot."

"Everyone, shut up!" Martin shouts. Everyone quiets, the same way we always do when Martin scolds us, and we keep walking.

"Sorry, dad." I mutter, knowing he can still hear me. Martin stops in his tracks and turns to face me angrily.

"Celine, for the last fucking time, stop calling me dad." Martin fumes. Patrick snorts and Martin shifts his angry glare away from me. When Patrick remains unfazed, Martin turns back around and keeps walking. We all follow his lead.

"Come on, there's a building up there and it looks like it's about to rain." Martin gives in, hurrying along the deserted road and everyone speeds up to follow him.

The building Martin leads us to looks like an old office building. It smells like mildew but there's four walls and a roof, which is more than I can say for most of the buildings we've passed today. And it keeps off the rain that's just started splattering against the windows, so I can't really complain. Beatrice starts distilling the water and everyone else sets up beds for the night.

"Hey, Celine." Martin gestures towards the hallway and I follow him away from the group. "There's a hospital down the road. It was an evacuation point. After the rain we'll go look for supplies." He pauses for a moment. "And stop calling me dad, we're almost the same age."

I can't help but smirk and Martin shakes his head, starting to walk back to the group.

"But it's funny." I protest.

"It's not funny."

* * *

The rain had just stopped drumming against the windows when Martin shook me awake. He gestures towards the door and I nod in acknowledgement, grabbing my bag and gun as quietly as I can. Martin shakes Jean awake and tells him that it's his turn to keep watch. The two of us creep away from our sleeping friends and out of the building.

Martin and I walk down the dark road in a comfortable silence, a habit I've definitely picked up from him. When we get to the old hospital we both draw our guns, though my handgun always feels childish in comparison to his army issued rifle. Martin looks at me and gestures towards the open doors of the hospital.

"Ladies first." He offers.

"Fuck that." He laughs quietly and walks in front of me. He knows me well enough to know that I would never walk into a creepy old building first. What Martin calls bravery, I call stupidity.

The hospital is completely trashed. There are overturned gurneys, used medical supplies, and mattresses that look like animals have burrowed into them. It's hard to walk in the dark and I don't want to risk falling onto anything infected but we can't use flashlights in the cities or the Strangers will find us. Or worse, people like us. Scavengers who would gladly kill us for our food and supplies. Martin taps my arm and gestures towards a supply room. He walks the opposite way and leaves me to search the room. I look the room for people or animals before tucking my gun into the makeshift holster on my thigh and starting the search.

I look through all the cabinets but they're ransacked. For a second, I think I've found a box of gauze but it's empty. I resist the urge to slam the drawers shut and clench my hands tightly, digging my nails into my palms. It's been days since we've found anything useful and I'm quickly losing the will to even bother looking. Lea isn't going to last much longer if we can't find anything for her to eat. A loud crash down the hallway shakes me out of my mental spiral.

"Martin?" I call out in a whisper. He doesn't answer. I step out into the hallway and try to find him. I'm about to call out again when a hand covers my mouth and someone pulls me behind a turned over gurney.

"There's someone here." Martin whispers into my ear. I freeze, listening intently for the other person. After a few seconds of silence, I roll my eyes. Martin is paranoid, the apocalypse thing must be getting to him. I pull Martin's hand off my mouth.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" A voice I don't recognize calls out. My eyes widen and I tighten my grip on Martin's arm.

A beam from a flashlight bounces across the room and hits the wall behind us. We duck down further behind the gurney. Whoever is out there calls out again. They walk past our hiding spot and I try to get a peek at them. They aren't a Stranger. Their bright yellow suit and lack of gun make that obvious. But they're still dangerous. Everyone is. They yell out again and I duck back into my hiding spot. From the other room there's a snarl and a loud shout and the yellow man runs past us and out of the building.

Once they get out the door Martin grabs my arm and yanks me up. We chase after the yellow man as quietly as we can, not wanting them to know we're behind them. They run down the road and through the woods, when a door seems to appear out of thin air. The yellow suited man races inside the door and it shuts behind them. I half expect the door to evaporate or fly into the sky like a UFO but it doesn't. I turn to Martin, who's still staring intently at the door.

"It's a bunker." He says in disbelief.

"A bunker?" I ask stupidly. He nods. "Like a nutjob doomsday bunker?" He gives me a weird look but nods again. He stares at the door for a few more seconds before turning away and walking back through the forest.

"I thought it was a portal." Martin keeps walking ahead of me and I hurry to follow him before I get lost.

"A portal?"

"Yeah. You know, like in Narnia?" He makes a weird half scoff and half laughing sound.

"Celine, I think you're getting holes in your brain." I glare at him but he's ahead of me and can't see it.

"Is that really weirder than a creepy nutjob doomsday bunker?"

"They aren't really a nutjob if they were right." Martin thinks he's the smartest person in the world, probably.

"Whatever. Are we going to tell everyone what we saw?"

"We should." Martin glances back at me. "If they were prepared enough to have a bunker, they probably have food and supplies." I nod even though his back is to me.

We make the rest of the walk back to the building silently. Martin, always forming a plan in his head, and me, usually thinking about food I miss the most. It's not that I'm bad at making plans or anything, it's just that Martin's plans have kept us alive so far. And if I'm thinking about nice things like food and kittens, then I don't have to think about sad things like the apocalypse and how everyone I love is dead. Apple tarts. Hot coffee. French fries. Spaghetti. See? I'm not sad anymore.

When we get back to the building Jean is slumped against the wall and snoring. I pull a blanket over his shoulders and he curls into it like a baby.

"He's the worst lookout. He always falls asleep." Martin says gruffly.

"I'll stay up." I offer. "I can't sleep anyway." Martin nods and gets comfortable on the floor. Within minutes he's snoring too.

Without looking I could tell you how everyone is sleeping right now. Martin is sitting almost straight up, back against the farthest corner from the door, hand on the strap of his gun. Beatrice is lying next to Lea, her shoes and coat still on. She doesn't snore but her nose whistles just a little. Lea is between Beatrice and Jean, like always. Although if it's for her safety or their comfort, I couldn't tell you. Jean is still in his spot facing the door, where he was supposed to be keeping watch but had quickly fallen asleep. His glasses sit on the tip of his nose, waiting for him to jerk awake just after sunrise and pretend that he hadn't fallen asleep in the first place. When we first met he was better at staying up late. Keeping watch and waiting for whatever danger lurks in the shadows. To be honest, I think he was just scared that he would wake up and we would all be gone. And finally, Patrick. He's lying flat on his back with his arm over his eyes, his other arm splayed out on the floor next to him. His hand twitches when he dreams.

I'm not being creepy. I just have trouble sleeping these days so I spend a lot of nights watching over my friends and hoping I don't have a reason to wake them up. Life's not all bad though, we have each other…

* * *

I wake everyone up at sunrise. We have water for breakfast while Martin tells everyone about the bunker we found last night. After 'eating' we pack up our things and Martin leads the short trek into the woods. We quickly come upon the bunker door. Martin and Patrick look around for a way inside. Patrick points out four air vents, half hidden by foliage. I suggest crawling through them like spies, but they quickly shoot down my plan. Patrick suggests the actually good idea of blocking the air vents, which will theoretically trigger the alarm and make the door automatically unlock. Everyone agrees, so we block vents with wet leaves, position ourselves strategically around the bunker door, and wait.

Soon a boy comes out of the bunker in his underwear, dragging a girl behind him. They fall into the dirt, gasping for air. Martin walks towards them slowly, gun drawn, and the two bunker kids stand nervously. They start backing up and the rest of us creep out of the brush and walk towards them, slowly forcing them back into the bunker. Martin shouts at the bunker kids to get inside and everyone follows him down the steps. The red lights from the alarms make Martin even more intimidating than normal and for a second I almost feel bad for the bunker kids. Then I remind myself that they have this sweet bunker while the rest of us are sleeping in dirty buildings with animals and I don't feel bad for them anymore.

"Are you on your own?" Martin shouts.

"Yes, we're alone." The girl answers.

"Come any closer and I'll kill you, understand?" The girl nods, still backing up. "In there! Come on! Beatrice, Lea search in there. Jean, search the tunnel." Martin forces the bunker people into a small room and shuts the door. The girl tries to protest but Martin doesn't care.

"You're staying in here so you don't infect us." Martin explains.

"We aren't infected. We've been here for six years." The girl tries to tell him.

"We saw you in town." Martin slams the door shut. Patrick and I search the bunker for anything we can eat or use. There's nothing but empty food packets and drawings. Everyone circles back empty handed and frustrated.

"I can hardly breathe." Lea says, pulling the scarf off her mouth.

"Yeah, well, we blocked the air vents." Patrick sasses back. Lea pulls the gas mask off her face.

"Patrick, secure the door." Patrick follows Martin's order, rolling a desk chair in front of the door.

"I'll unblock the air vents." Jean offers.

"You've all got five minutes, then we leave again." Martin tells us. Lea tries to get a deep breath of air before searching around the bunker again.

"Lea, are you okay?" I check. She nods at me and we go back to searching. I try to ignore the girl knocking loudly on the window and go into another room instead. There is absolutely no food in this bunker. I dig my nails into my palm out of frustration. All this work and there's nothing.

I decide to go back to the group. I can't stand around the bunker listening to the girl beg us to let her out or I'll start feeling guilty.

I find Lea leaning against a wall by the entrance. She's pale and sweaty. I don't know if it's from the lack of food or the lack of oxygen but she can barely stand.

"Hey, Lea? You okay?" Lea closes her eyes and tries to take a deep breath. I grab Lea's arm gently and try to get her to sit down on the steps but she stumbles and I help her lean back against the wall instead. Jean comes down another tunnel and joins us by then entrance.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"Lea's sick." I explain. Lea groans and Jean steps towards her quickly. Just as she's about to fall Jean and I grab her and set her down on the steps.

"She passed out." Jean says.

"Observant." I mutter. He stops staring fearfully at Lea to glare at me. I kneel next to Lea and try to wake her up but Jean swats my hand away.

"Don't."

"Well, we can't carry her. What are we supposed to do?" I ask. Lea groans, slowly waking up. Jean reaches out and brushes away a strand of her hair.

"Hey, Lea? See, she's awake. She can walk." He tells me.

"Alright, everyone! Let's go." Martin calls. Patrick and Beatrice find the three of us at the entrance. Beatrice quickly pushes me out of the way so she can help Lea and I let her.

"Here, Celine." Jean calls me over to take over his spot with Lea. "Martin, Lea passed out." Jean calls, going back into the bunker to get Martin. Patrick follows him deeper into the bunker, leaving me and Beatrice alone with Lea.

"We should get her outside." Beatrice suggests. We each take one of Lea's arms and hoist her up. Slowly we get up the steps and set Lea down against the frame of the door. A few minutes later, Martin comes out. Patrick, Jean, and the bunker kids follow behind him.

"They're coming with us." Martin says. His tone suggests that it's not up for discussion. So does his grip on his gun. I don't know what the hell the bunker kids did to convince Martin to bring them along but I don't want to be responsible for two more hungry people. Maybe we can trade them Beatrice. She's been extra bitchy lately.


	2. Chapter 1 Part 2

_I stood hidden between the door and the wall of the old gas station. Lieke was creeping around the other side. Our plan was to catch the two men off guard before they could fight back. The taller one had gone into the other room, leaving the smaller one vulnerable. Lieke leaps forward, grabbing the smaller one's arm and twisting it behind his back. She pushes him onto his knees._

" _Give me your food." She demands._

" _Fuck you." He was barely even phased, acting pissed off rather than scared. Lieke tugs his arm harder and he winces. Perfectly on cue, the taller one walks through the doorway, passing right by my hiding spot. He draws his gun and aims it at Lieke, walking towards her slowly._

" _Let him go or I'll shoot." He demands. I step out from the door and press Lieke's gun between his shoulder blades._

" _Shoot her and you'll both die." I say calmly. The man freezes. Seconds pass before he holds his gun and his other hand up in surrender._

" _Martin?" The smaller boy is obviously shocked by the taller one giving in. I was expecting more of a fight, him giving in makes me nervous._

" _Just give us your food and we'll leave." Lieke tells them again._

" _Let him go or we'll all die." The taller man tells her. Lieke gives him a confused look and he points out the window. Down the road an SUV is barreling towards us._

" _Fuck, Lieke." I worry out loud. I keep the gun pressed to the mans back, hoping he can't feel my hands shaking._

" _Let him go, put down the gun, and we'll help you." The SUV is close enough now that the people inside it could see the building, but not us._

 _Lieke and I share a look before she nods and lets the smaller boy go. I lower my gun and the taller guy grabs my upper arm, dragging me towards the back of the building. Lieke and the other man follow. We race out of the building and into the woods behind it. The man pulls me to the ground and Lieke and the other one follow suit. He pulls a shiny tarp from his pocket and the two guys spread it over the four of us. The SUV parks in front of the building we were just in and two men get out._

" _How the fuck is this supposed to hide us from the soldiers?" Lieke asks angrily. The only answer we get is the taller one telling Lieke to shut up. The soldiers take out their drone. One leans against their car boredly while the other one operates the machine. I feel Lieke's hand slide up the back of my calf and she digs her nails into it. The soldiers fly the drone around the building, over our hiding spot, and back to themselves._

" _Did you see anything?" The bored one asks._

" _No. Must have been a false alarm. An animal or something?" The other one answers, folding the drone and tossing it back into their SUV. Both soldiers get in the car and drive off. The boys we were trying to rob pull the tarp off of us._

" _It's heat reflective. The drone can't see it." The taller one explains. Lieke and I share a look, and the taller guy smirks. "Still want to kill us?"_

" _Yes." Lieke mutters. The guy pauses for a second before realizing that Lieke is joking. The smaller one rolls his eyes and looks at his friend._

" _Can we go now?" The tall one nods and the guys start grabbing their things. Lieke gives me another look and I shake my head no but she ignores me._

" _Wait!" She calls. "Let's go together." I groan and Lieke gives me a quick glare before smiling at the guys._

" _Why would we do that? You just tried to kill me." The smaller one reminds her. Lieke and the tall guy ignore him._

" _Okay." The taller one says, deciding for both of them. "We're in."_

" _Seriously? Martin?" The smaller one complains. The other one shuts him up with a quick look. The taller one, Martin I guess, starts walking down the road, away from where the Strangers went. Lieke winks at me before following him. They walk quickly, neither caring about mine and the other boys protests. Both knowing we'll follow them anyway._

" _Lieke, wait!" I give in first. I run to catch up with her and Martin, the other boy reluctantly following after us. "What are you doing? You don't know them. He's probably just trying to get your guard down so he can kill you and take all your shit." I whisper, trying to stop us from getting murdered._

" _Come on, Celine. It's fine. Live a little."_

" _I won't be living at all soon. Thanks to you."_

" _Shut up, Celine." She hisses. She grins at Martin, trying to pretend that I'm not talking about him being a cold blooded killer that we just tried to rob. The smaller one keeps rubbing his arm and glaring at the back of Martin's head. Lieke just saunters along like we've known them for years._

" _I'm Lieke, by the way." Martin nods._

" _I'm Martin. That's Patrick." He adds, pointing to the other guy. Lieke grabs my shoulders and pushes me along._

" _This is Celine. She's shy." I glare at her._

" _Fuck off, Lieke."_

" _I think she and Patrick will get along." Martin says with a grin._

" _Fuck off, Martin." Patrick huffs._


	3. Chapter 2

Apparently Bunker Girl is leading us two a second bunker. Honestly, I'm starting to get concerned for Martin's sanity. He finds a girl who says she's been locked in a bunker for six years and he's like 'Yeah, okay, let's follow her into the forest everyone!' and we're just supposed to go along with it? But I mean, supposedly there's food, so I guess I'll go.

We've been walking for nearly two hours when we take a break. Beatrice sits Lea up against a tree and tries to get her to drink some water. The bunker girl walks around the small clearing, jumping around on trees and trying to figure out where to go. Everyone else just revels in the chance to rest our feet and tired bodies.

"I'm not buying it." Patrick says suddenly.

"What?" Jean asks.

"Their little story about being in a bunker for six don't know them and we're following them like headless gooses."

"Gooses, Patrick?" I ask him, trying not to laugh at the boys grammar issues.

"Geese." Martin says.

"What?"

"The plural of goose is geese."

"What?" Patrick asks again but Martin walks away without answering.

"The plural of goose is geese." Jean repeats.

"Jean…" Patrick says, rubbing his forehead. "Whatever. Why are we following them just because they claim to know where there's food?" I glance from Patrick to Lea and frown. "Look at her. She hasn't got a clue which way to go."

"Jean?" I ask, ignoring Patrick's pessimistic rant.

"Yeah, Celine?"

"Why is it moose and not meese?" Jean just shrugs and goes back to adjusting his shoes.

Martin looks back at us and gestures for us to start walking again. I follow behind the group in my usual spot, in the back but Bunker Boy is walking too slowly and it's pissing me off. I step around him and Beatrice and move to the middle of the group.

"Celine?" Patrick slows down slightly to walk next to me.

"Hm?"

"What about juice?" He asks. "If you have a lot of juice, then you have 'jeese'." I look at Patrick and he has a stupid smirk on his face.

"Two boys named Bruce." I start. He nods along while I talk. "Breece." He laughs and I grin at him. I'm too focused on our conversation to notice that Martin stopped walking and I walk right into Jean's back. On the road ahead of us is a Strangers SUV, speeding towards us. Martin and I are the first to react, dropping to the ground and pulling Patrick's arm to yank him down next to me. Jean, Lea, and Beatrice drop down too and Beatrice pulls the bunker kids to the ground with her.

"Patrick." Martin calls and Patrick pulls out the foil tarp. They pull it over everyone, blocking us from the drones sensor.

"What?" Bunker Girl asks, confused and scared.

"Shut up." I hiss at her. She's being loud and I don't want the Strangers to hear her.

"He has the drone. Heat seeking." Martin explains to the her. We all hold our breath, hoping we don't get caught, as the drone flies over us. If you get caught by the Strangers, you're dead. Suddenly, a girl comes crashing through the trees and I grip onto Patrick's arm instinctively. The Strangers start yelling at the girl and chasing her. Once they run past us we all stand up and start running the opposite way. Everyone except Bunker Girl.

"Come." Martin tells the bunker girl but she doesn't listen.

"But we have to help that woman." She says.

"No. Damn it." Martin tries to lead the group away again but Beatrice stops. "Beatrice, come on."

"But she cried for help."

"We can't help her, bunker girl." I try to explain her. "She's dead now, let's go."

"What kind of animals are you?" Bunker Girl asks, clearly disturbed.

"There's only two of them." Beatrice states and everyone stops to look at her like she's insane.

"What?" Martin starts walking towards Beatrice.

"So, we can help her."

"No, we can't. We're leaving. Come." Beatrice doesn't listen.

"I'll do it." She runs forward, bringing the bunker kids with her. Lea and Martin chase after them and everyone else chases after Lea and Martin. I pull my gun out as we run. When we get to the Strangers the girl is laying on the ground covered in mud. Martin shoots one stranger and I take out the other quickly, before I overthink it. Beatrice rushes towards the girl and kneels on the side of the stream.

"Please. I just want to go home to my family and children." The girl begs, holding her hands up in surrender. I lower my gun and step towards her. At the same time Martin raises his gun and aims it at the girl. Before anyone can stop him he shoots her in the head and I cringe.

"Martin!" Beatrice gasps, backing away from the edge of the stream.

"Nice shot." Patrick remarks. Martin tells Patrick to check the Strangers.

"What have you done?" Bunker Girl asks.

"You wanted to help her, right? She was infected. She was dead the moment her foot touched the water." Martin states. "Where do we go now? Hello?" Bunker Girl looks around wildly. "Which way for fucks sake?" She points at the water.

"Across the stream." She stutters. I look at the stream where the girl crossed and bite my lip. If we fall in like the girl, we'll get infected. Martin starts yelling about Bunker Boy not wearing any shoes and I walk further down the stream, looking for a place where we can cross without falling into the water.

"We won't make it before the rain. We have to find temporary shelter." Martin tells everyone.

"We can cross here. It's smaller, we can jump over it." I point out the spot and Martin nods.

"Yeah. Fine. Let's go." Which is the closest you'll ever get to Martin saying 'good job' when everyone else is around.

* * *

Soon we find an empty building to camp in for the night. Outside there's a swing set and toys. I try to ignore the death that lurks on everything but it's hard not to notice the child sized skeletons frozen forever in mid-play. It makes my skin crawl and I can't get into the building fast enough.

Inside everyone sets up camp for the night. I help Jean push tables together and cover them with blankets he found.

Beatrice helps Lea lay down on one of the tables and rubs her arm waiting for Patrick to distill the water.

"Patrick… is the water distilled?" Martin asks.

"Yeah. It's almost done." Lea and I close the blinds while Martin covers up the holes in the windows with plastic to keep the rain out. Once the room is secure, we all congregate by the tables and wait for the water to finish. Patrick goes through the bag he got from the Strangers.

"Can we help with anything?" The Bunker Girl asks. Martin gives her a quick once over.

"No. Just keep out of the way." He dismisses her easily. "But you need a change of clothes. You can't wear that. You need proper shoes. Jean, try to find him some boots."

"I'm not his fucking butler." Jean complains.

"Then bring him with you." Martin suggests tightly. Jean rolls his eyes but takes Bunker Boy with him to search the building.

"Is the water distilled?" Martin asks Patrick.

"Yeah, it's coming." Patrick tells him. Martin and Beatrice get Lea onto one of the tables and then Beatrice grabs some clothes from her backpack and tosses them at Bunker Girl. The water finishes distilling and I fill up my canteen.

"Hey, Bunker Girl." I call her over. She nervously walks over to me and I give her some water out of my canteen. I start to fill Lea's while the Bunker Girl drinks.

"Thanks." She says quietly. She takes a sip and looks up at me. "Simone." I raise my eyebrow at her, confused.

"My name is Celine."

"No, I'm Simone." She explains.

"Oh." I take a sip of water. "I didn't ask." The girl frowns and moves to a spot across the room. I don't have anything against her personally, I just don't like to connect with people who are going to die soon. It's better if we don't become friends.

Later, Jean and the bunker boy come back with boots and Jean takes Beatrice's place with Lea. I move to a spot under one of the tables and try to get comfortable on the hard floor. Martin sits down next to me and we watch Patrick harass the bunker boy.

"What's the deal with the backpack?" Patrick asks.

"Nothing. I've just got my stuff in it." Bunker Boy says, tightening his grip on the yellow bag.

"Are you hiding food from the bunker in it?" The boy shakes his head no and Patrick snatches his backpack from him. He digs through it and the boy lets him, just fidgeting in his seat.

"You're lugging drawings around?" The kid tries to grab them and Patrick pulls back. "Let me see your artwork." Patrick looks through the drawings while talking.

"You weren't down there for six years. Think I'm stupid? If you'd been cooped up in that bunker for six years, you'd both have gone crazy." The boy reaches for the drawings again and Patrick pulls them away.

"What's this? Space rockets?" Patrick asks with a smirk. "Dinosaurs. You like dinosaurs?" He looks at another picture.

"Who's this?"

"A man I saw one night." The kid finally speaks up. "In the bunker." I start listening more intently.

"So you weren't alone?" Patrick asks.

"We were alone, but I saw him that one night."

"So you were alone for six years except for that one night when a guy looked at you?" The boy doesn't say anything and Patrick gives him back the drawings.

"Are you okay, Rasmus?" Simone asks, walking over to help him.

"Maybe you have gone crazy." Patrick says before walking off. The girl tells Patrick to leave Rasmus alone and I turn to Martin.

"I bet it was an alien." I tell him and he raises an eyebrow.

"What was an alien?"

"The man watching Bunker Boy sleep." Martin rolls his eyes.

"You're ridiculous, Celine. It was probably just a nightmare."

"An alien nightmare."

"You shouldn't eavesdrop, Celine." Martin scolds and I shrug.

"Whatever. I don't trust them. Plus, I like watching Patrick try to intimidate people. It's funny."

"I think you just like watching Patrick." He says with a smirk.

"Shut up, Martin." I glare at him but he keeps his smirk. "I'm sleeping now, go away." Martin laughs and walks away, leaving me alone under the table.

I'm nearly asleep when a clap of thunder makes me flinch awake. I sigh and sit up straight, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I look up at the doorway when I hear footsteps and Patrick comes into the room. We make eye contact and he silently walks over and sits under the table next to me.

"Where'd you go?" I asks quietly, as to not wake anyone else up. Patrick doesn't respond. He lays back on the floor and throws his arm over his eyes. I look up again at the sound of more footsteps and Simone walks into the room.

"Celine," Patrick calls softly pulling on my arm, "go to sleep." I lay down next to him try to fall back asleep. Every time I close my eyes it starts to thunder, keeping me awake.

"Patrick?" He doesn't answer but he scoots closer to me and lets me curl into his shoulder. I'm used to the sound of the rain. Sometimes, it's even soothing when we're in a nice building and can relax for the night. I hate thunder, though. The loud clap of the clouds echos in my head like gunshots and gives me nightmares. Thankfully, it doesn't thunder often. If it did I don't think I'd ever sleep.


	4. Chapter 2 Part 2

Sorry this has been taking so long to post! I watch it in Dutch with English subtitles so I have to transcribe everything bit by bit and it takes forever haha. Glad you're all enjoying it so far. Love!

* * *

 _Lieke and I have been walking for hours. It feels like my toes are going to fall off if we don't stop soon. Lieke keeps looking up at the sky as we walk, like she's willing the clouds to move pass faster._

" _It's going to rain, Celine." She worries aloud._

" _Have you always been this observant?"_

" _I'm just saying. I haven't seen a building, or even a car, for miles." Lieke stops walking, glancing around us nervously._

" _There was a church up on the hill." I offer._

" _You want to go back the way we came?" I shrug._

" _Yeah, I guess. I'd rather go back than stay out in the open." I glance up at the clouds looming above us. "Plus, it looks like it's going to rain soon."_

" _Have you always been this observant?" She mocks._

 _The two of us trudge up the hill, retracing our footsteps. It's frustrating to go back but honestly, it's not like we're_ going _anywhere anyway. If I'd known the apocalypse would involve so much walking I would have reconsidered staying inside all the time. Maybe exercised a bit before hand or something. It doesn't take us long to reach the church. Or for me to find a big enough rock._

" _Celine, don't! It's a church." Lieke grabs onto my arm to stop me from chucking the rock through the stained glass door._

" _Well, we can die if you want, Lieke, but I'm sure Jesus will understand." I reason. Lieke gives the church a guilty look before removing her hand from my arm._

" _Fine. But I'm not watching."_

" _Okay. Turn around." Lieke follows my orders and I look back at the window. I quickly smash the rock through the glass, before I can second think it. I shrug off my jacket and wrap it around my hand so I can break the rest of the glass out. "Okay, you can turn around now."_

" _Poor Joseph." Lieke mourns. "His life was so hard. His girlfriend got knocked up by someone else and then you smashed him in the head with a rock."_

" _Yup. You're next." I toss the rock back towards the forest. "Give me a boost?"_

 _Lieke helps me in through the window and I drop to the floor of the church. I lean back out the window and Celine tosses her bag to me. I drop it on the pew before hanging my arms down so Lieke can grab onto me. She grips my elbows tightly and scrambles up the side of the church and in through the window._

 _Lieke and I had quickly adopted a night time routine since we'd been forced together by the deadly rain. We find an old building, preferably one with a roof and solid windows. We used to sleep in abandoned houses before they became too dangerous. Then I make dinner out of whatever cans we have in our packs because Lieke's 'soft and delicate hands are too dainty' to break them open. While I make dinner, Lieke just kind of wanders around and messes with things. I think she would die without me… which is almost comforting even though that's a horrible thing to think._

" _Lieke, dinner's ready." I call out._

" _Yeah, just a second." Lieke is knelt in front of the alter with her necklace held in her palms._

" _Lieke? What are you doing?" I ask._

" _Praying."_

" _I don't think anyone is listening."_

" _It's worth a shot." She continues her prayer while I watch. The rain drums lightly on the windows, a sound that used to lull us to sleep but now keeps us awake. Lieke's necklace slips through her hand after each prayer._

" _Do you really believe in God? After everything that's happened." I ask quietly. Lieke looks at me over her shoulder, holding my eye for a moment before she realizes that I'm being genuine and not making fun of her._

" _We're still here, aren't we? Maybe that means something." Lieke turns to the altar and resumes her quiet prayer. "Maybe if we pray, He will help us."_

" _Say an extra prayer for me, would you?" I ask and Lieke laughs._

" _I always do, Cece."_


	5. Chapter 3

Martin woke all of us up early this morning. We packed our things and filled the canteens before setting off again. It's quiet and without any food for breakfast everyone is a million times grumpier than usual. It's tense, to say the least. And when Lea trips, I'm a bit scared that Martin is going to have a stroke.

"Martin! Lea can't go much farther." Jean calls out. Beatrice and Jean help Lea up but she's so weak from hunger that she can barely stand on her own. Martin gives Lea a guilty look before storming over to Simone.

"Is it far now?" He asks. Simone's face switches from guilty, to scared, to fake-confidence rapidly.

"Right past that lake and we're there." She points towards the woods. It's going to be even harder for Lea to get there if we can't walk on the road. But I guess we don't really have a choice.

"I hope you're right, for your sake or-" Martin threatens.

"It's right down here." Simone cuts him off. She starts down a small hill that leads into the woods and we all follow her, making sure Lea doesn't trip again and hurt herself.

There's a small strip of land between the lakes. It's big enough for us to walk on but it's wet and muddy and gross. Mosquitoes buzz past my ears and one bites me on the neck before I can swat it off.

"You look like a crazy person." Patrick snorts.

"Shut up. It's the fucking bugs."

"What bugs? You're hallucinating, Celine." I glare at him and he smirks. "Oh, wait. There's one on your cheek now." I try to swat it away without hitting myself and Patrick starts laughing.

"There's no bug?"

"No."

"Asshole."

"Hey, wait. There's one for real now."

"No, there's not."

"There is!"

"Shut up, Patrick." He holds his hands up in surrender, still smirking.

"Fine. You're the one who'll get a big bug bite on your cheek." SPLASH.

I whirl around and see Rasmus ankle deep in a puddle. Instinctively, I take a step back and my hand goes to my gun. Martin and Simone walk towards Rasmus carefully.

"Beatrice, get away from him." Martin tells her but she doesn't move from Rasmus' side.

"He only just got out." She says sadly. "Can't we see if…"

"No, we can't. Step away." He replies. Simone rushes in front of Martin and pushes his gun away.

"No."

"Get out of the way."

"No." I pull my gun out of its holster, just in case.

"Move, or I'll fucking shoot both of you." Everyone stands stock still.

"Beatrice, you've got gloves, right?" Simone asks.

"Yes."

"Take off his boot."

"Beatrice, don't touch him." I try to warn but Beatrice ignores me.

"Don't." Martin repeats. Beatrice squats down and begins untying Rasmus' boot.

"Is his foot wet?" Simone asks, not taking her eyes off Martin.

"Wait."

"I can't hear you."

"I don't know yet."

"It's too dangerous, Martin." Patrick warns. "Shoot him before he infects us all. Celine, shoot him." I wait, watching Beatrice and Rasmus intently.

"No. It hasn't gone through." I drop my hands and take a deep breath.

"I told you those boots were good." Jean says from the front of the group. "One hundred percent waterproof. I found the bunker."

The group moves forward and follows Jean to the new bunker. Simone uses her handprint to unlock the door.

"Who's going to authorize you?" Martin asks. The door unlocks. "And why the hell were you authorized?"

"Does it matter?" The girl asks as the door opens.

"It does. I want to know what you know."

Jean goes in first and we all follow him inside.

"Food!" He shouts. I follow Jean, Lea, and Beatrice into a room fully stocked with food. Everyone grins and starts looking at all the options they have. I haven't seen this much edible food in years. It's a utopia.

I find a bag of dried fruit and shove a handful into my mouth. It's amazing. I think it's apricots or peaches but it could be dirt and I'd still salivate. I look up when lights come on and laugh. I grabs a handful of bags, shoving them into my pockets for later, before I start exploring the bunker. It's almost exactly the same as the first one, minus the drawings everywhere. It's sort of creepy, to be honest. Martin finds me wandering around the bunker.

"You look grumpy." I note. He rolls his eyes at me but the look on his face gets a little less sour.

""Celine, you're on guard duty first. Okay?" Martin asks. My shoulders slump. At least if I'm outside, I won't get trapped in this creepy bunker.

"Yeah. Fine." I agree. I don't mention the horror movie I saw as a kid where a group of teens got trapped in a bunker and died.

"You have food?"

"Yeah." I hold up the bag of dried fruit in my hands to snack on.

"Bullets?"

"Yeah, Martin." He worries too much. I mean, I get why he worries, but it's still annoying sometimes. This isn't the first time I've had guard duty.

I have my bag of fruit and my gun balanced on my lap while I watch the sun start to set over the lake. Guard duty is kind of nice when there isn't much to guard against. I'm alert, obviously, but we're so secluded and you can't see us from the road at all. I'm just starting to get bored when Patrick comes climbing out of the bunker. He drops on the ground next to me and leans his back against the door.

"How's the bunker?" I ask. He shrugs in response, which usually means he's in a bad mood. I have a remedy for that though.

"Patrick, close your eyes and open your mouth." His face drops.

"What?" I roll my eyes.

"Just do it." He hesitantly agrees. He closes his eyes and I take a piece of fruit out of the bag. "Open." He reluctantly opens his mouth and I feed him the fruit. After a second he laughs.

"What was that?" He asks.

"Apricot, I think." He laughs again and swallows it.

"I thought it was going to be something gross."

"I wouldn't feed you something gross." He scoffs.

"Celine, you almost made me eat a bug once." He points out.

"Yeah! And you made me eat dirt!" I remind him. He laughs again and I glare at him.

"Martin made you eat dirt. I just watched. Can I have another?" I roll my eyes but nod and reach into the bag, handing him more of the dried fruit.

"Come inside, it's getting dark and it's probably going to rain again." Patrick suggests. I look up at the sky out of habit and follow him inside

"There's more food." He tells me, leading me through the bunker. Jean and Lea are feeding each other bites of food. We sit on the floor next to them and Jean shoves a bag of juice into my hands.

"Where's Beatrice?" I ask. Jean shrugs.

"Celine," Lea says handing me a weird bar, "Try this. It's chocolate." I take a bite of it and have to stop myself from moaning.

"That's fucking amazing. I don't think I've had chocolate in years." Lea grins at me hands me the rest of the bar. I break it in half to split it with Patrick.

"These bunkers are creepy." Patrick says.

"Who cares? They have food." Jean says.

"I don't trust them. Celine, you trust them?"

"No." I tell him with a shrug.

"You don't trust anyone, Celine." Lea points out.

"Well, I haven't died yet, have I? Besides, even if they're telling the truth and they've been locked in a bunker for six years they're going to be weird and stupid. The boy must have been a little kid when he got locked in there."

"I don't like him." Patrick adds.

"You don't like anyone, Patrick." Lea says with a laugh. Patrick glares at Lea and Jean, even though Jean didn't say anything.

"I like them." Lea says. "They led us to food, they didn't have to do that."

"Or," I muse, "they used us as protection to get to the next bunker." Lea rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Some people are good, Celine." Lea's hand goes to the cross around her neck and my hands clench reflexively. Lea is a good person. Still, after everything that's happened, she's a good person. I think she might be the only one left.

"Lea?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you trust them?" Lea smiles softly.

"I don't know. I just do. Have you heard of a guiding star?" She asks me.

"Like the north star? Bethlehem?" Lea nods.

"I think that's what she is. I just trust her." I nod even though I don't really agree or understand. "We should get some rest."

Lea stands up, stretching, and pulling Jean up with her. She looks down at me but I'm not ready to sleep yet.

"In a minute." Lea nods and leaves with Jean trailing behind her. It's silent for a minute before Patrick rips open another bag of food.

"I don't care what Lea says, I don't trust them." Patrick decides. "They've almost gotten us killed twice already."

"Do you think I should trust people more?" Patrick looks up at me when I ask and sighs quietly, reclosing the bag of food in his hands and scooting closer to me.

"You trust Martin?" He asks and I nod. "You trust me?" I pause for a second but nod again. Patrick shrugs and goes back to his food.

"I don't trust Beatrice or Jean."

"Jean would trade any of us for a hot meal." Patrick points out.

"I would trade you for a hot bath." I confess.

"Yeah but you'd trade me last. After the bunker twins and everyone else, yeah?"

"At least second to last." I agree. I might keep Martin longer, because he has a gun, but I'd really have to think about it." Patrick accepts my answer. He's probably also thought about who would go first, if he needed to chose. "I'm going to sleep."

"Whatever." Patrick shrugs again, shoveling a handful of food into his mouth. I don't know very much about his life before the rain but I think all the weed he smoked fried most of his brain.


	6. Chapter 3 Part 2

_The night was eerily quiet without the sound of the city or cars. There was no rain pattering against the windows of the old cottage. The silence put me on edge. It made everything seem like it was on the brink of shattering._

" _Celine?" Lieke whispers. She was never good at whispering, it would have been quieter if she'd shouted._

" _Yeah, Lieke?"_

" _Are you awake?"_

" _No. I'm sleep talking." I hear a shuffle and then feel a hand slap onto my stomach and knock the wind out of me. Lieke starts giggling and once I can breathe again I roll onto my side to glare at her._

" _What do you want, Lieke?" Lieke shrugs, still amused._

" _I can't sleep." She explains._

" _I can sing you a lullaby." I offer and Lieke wrinkles her nose._

" _No, your singing voice is horrible. I would have nightmares." I laugh sarcastically. "Tell me a story."_

" _I don't know any stories." Lieke rolls her eyes._

" _Tell me about your mom."_

" _No. That's too sad."_

" _Not when she died. Before. A happy story." She begs. I give Lieke a tired sigh but she continues her pestering. "Please, it's almost Christmas."_

" _Fine. Jesus. I'll tell you a Christmas story." I give in. Lieke scoots closer to me, pressing her arm against mine._

" _One year my mom wanted me and my sister to be in a Christmas pageant. So, she forced me to sign up for the one at the church near our house. Not only was I not Catholic but I can't act. Like, at all." Lieke laughs._

" _I believe you." I glare at her and Lieke grins. "What was the play about?"_

" _The birth of Jesus. So, everyone who signed up had to be given a part, even if they were bad. Guess what part I got."_

" _Um, the sheep?" Lieke guesses._

" _The snow."_

" _The snow?" Lieke asks laughing. I nod._

" _I didn't have any lines, all I had to do was lay on the stage the whole time." We both laugh quietly. "My mom was so proud of me, though. She took a million pictures and she sent them to all of her friends." Lieke snorts._

" _That's sweet."_

" _Yeah, I guess. My sister got to play the star though."_

" _Mary?"_

" _No, the northern star. The one that guided them to Bethlehem." Lieke laughs loudly and I giggle again._

" _Do you miss her?" Lieke asks quietly._

" _My sister? Yeah." Lieke grabs me hand and squeezes it. "Do you miss your dad?"_

" _No." We're quiet for a moment. "I miss my grandmother though. She was sweet." She squeezes my hand tighter and I squeeze back._

" _Goodnight, Lieke."_

" _Goodnight, Celine."_


	7. Chapter 4

**AN: Remember when I said I was editing this story to make it better? I lied. I use 'I' about a gazillion times and it sounds really awkward but idk! I can't really find my groove with this story but I'll try to keep writing anyways! Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewing! It means the world to me and it's why I came back to this story. I really hope you enjoy it! Love.**

* * *

I lean back in the chair, going out of my mind with boredom, while watching Patrick and Martin play table tennis.

"You're all talk, no serve." Martin jokes.

"Yeah, yeah." Patrick serves the ball across the table and the boys shout at each other. I look up when Lea enters the room and stands with her hands on her hips.

"Where are the others?" She asks. I raise an eyebrow and look at Martin accusingly.

"They left to find their dad in Sweden." He tells her. He and Patrick go back to their game.

"Their dad's in Sweden?" Lea asks Martin.

"Does it matter?"

"Well, they shouldn't have left without us. They won't make it on their own." Lea looks at me and I shrug.

"They'll have to. We aren't going." Martin states. The boys focus on their game and Beatrice ambles into the room.

"What's going on?" She asks Lea.

"Martin kicked out Rasmus and Simone."

"No. I didn't." Martin tells Beatrice. "People can do what they want."

"I want to play the winner." I say, setting my elbows on the table.

"No." Martin says. I pout at him and he laughs.

"Where'd they go?" Beatrice asks Lea.

"To Sweden."

"They think their dad's in Sweden and that he can save the world." Patrick explains with a mocking tone.

"We're going with them." Beatrice decides. "If their dad can save the world, we need to help them find him, or they'll die."

"So what?" Martin dismisses. Patrick gives me an 'are you hearing this shit?' look and I laugh, making Beatrice and Martin glare at me.

"They helped us when we needed it." Lea points out.

"It's not just about surviving, it's about hope. We're going with them." Beatrice tells Martin.

"But it's really dangerous." Martin tries to reason.

"What is?" Jean asks, walking into the room with a bag of food. "We're not doing anything dangerous, right?"

Martin and Beatrice glare at each other, daring the other to give in. They're both too stubborn. It's definitely going to kill us one day.

"Let's go. Pack your stuff." Beatrice tells Jean and Lea. "We have to go find Simone and Rasmus."

"Come," Lea tells Jean, grabbing his arm gently, "we have to go find the others. Celine?" Lea looks at me expectantly and I look back at her with wide eyes. I glance between Martin and Lea, then to Patrick, then back to Lea.

"Dad said no." I tell her solemnly. Lea gives me a disapproving look. I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"Celine?" Lea gives me a pleading look and I curl my nails into my palm. She should have been a nun. She's so damn good at guilt tripping people

"Fine." I give in, standing up. "But I'm only going so you don't die." Lea smiles at me and goes to grab her things.

"Celine, really?" Patrick asks. I don't want to go but I can't let Lea and Jean go to Sweden alone, they'll die. So, I nod and grab my things and a few handfuls of food and follow the three of them out of the bunker.

* * *

Lea and I lead Jean and Beatrice through the woods. Without Martin and Patrick, I'm nervous. I've been with them for almost five years and I've only known Simone for a day. I'm considering telling Lea that we have to turn back when I see the tall buildings of the city up ahead. Instead, I take a deep breath and draw my gun before continuing forward. Lea looks at the gun in my hand and smiles comfortingly.

"We're going to be fine, Celine" She reassures me. I grunt in response. The closer we get to the city the more nervous I become. I glance up at the sky and I'm somewhat calmed by the lack of clouds. The road leading to the city is filled with abandoned cars and trash. There are roadblocks and an overturned bus in the middle of the street.

"Hey." Beatrice says and I look back at her worried. "I think I see them." She points towards the overturned bus and I see a shadow through the window. Lea and Beatrice walk in front of me and I grip my gun even tighter. The girls walk up to the bus and poke their heads in. I'm half expecting something horrible to happen. Lea is too damn trusting. Trusting and stubborn is a bad combination.

"Having fun?" Beatrice asks. When Simone and Rasmus see them they relax and I loosen my grip on my gun slightly. Maybe Martin is rubbing off on me but you can't let your guard down when you're out in the open like this.

"What's going on?" Simone asks.

"We're going with you. We believe in you. You're kind of a..." Beatrice looks at Lea. "What did you call her?"

"A guiding star." Beatrice nods.

"Lea believes in God." Jean tells Simone and Rasmus.

"It has nothing to do with that." She objects. "A guiding star is just someone you want to follow." She tells Simone with a smile.

"Where are the others?" Simone asks, looking at me wearily then back to Beatrice.

"They'll follow sooner or later when Martin realizes we aren't coming back." Beatrice reassures her. Everyone looks back to Simone and she laughs awkwardly.

"Why are you all looking at me?" She asks.

"Because you're in charge." Jean tells her. Beatrice nods.

"What? No, I- I'm not in charge of anyone." She says bashfully. "Celine?"

"I don't make decisions. I'm just the muscle."

"Then I'll be in charge." Jean says with a grin. We all laugh.

"Perfect!" Simone laughs.

"Want me to drive?" Jean asks, walking towards the front of the bus. He sits in the driver's seat and grabs the wheel. "Hold on!" I grab onto one of the seats and try to sit sideways on it. Rasmus, Lea, and Simone all pile on top of each other into one seat and I laugh. Beatrice sits on the baggage holder and Jean pretends that he's driving the bus.

* * *

Jean is leading us further into the city when Rasmus stops in front of a Burger King.

"Is anyone hungry?" Rasmus asks. I eye the Burger King wearily.

"I'm always hungry." Jean says.

"Come on guys, we need to keep moving." Simone tries to tell them but the boys ignore her and walk right into the Burger King. I look back at Simone before following them into the restaurant. If Jean and Rasmus die, Lea and Simone will do something stupid and die, it's a vicious cycle. Plus, fries.

Rasmus and Jean sit at a table and I look around, making sure we're alone. Lea, Beatrice, and Simone come in after me and sit at the table. Once I'm sure the place is empty, I sit next to Simone with our back against the wall.

"Now I want french fries." I say and Lea laughs. Rasmus pulls out some food from the bunker and everyone follows suit.

"Can I taste your chili cheese tops?" Rasmus asks Jean.

"What? I'm eating bunker food like you." I laugh at Jean's cluelessness.

"This is Burger King."

"Oh, okay. I'm eating a pizza with shawarma, greens, and dressing."

"It has to be from Burger King!" Rasmus tells him and everyone laughs.

"I'd rather have pizza."

"Jean. you're terrible at this game." I laugh. Jean rolls his eyes at me.

"Okay, Celine. What are you eating?" Rasmus asks me. I think for a minute before grinning.

"Okay; chicken strips, french fries, and an extra extra large chocolate milkshake." I say proudly.

"Extra extra large?" Lea asks, laughing. I nod.

"I think I deserve it."

"Okay, we need to move on." Simone tells everyone, breaking us out of our laughter. "It's dangerous here in the city. There's a bunker in Amager. We can spend the night there."

"Okay." Jean agrees. He stands up and grabs his jacket.

"Where are you going?" Simone asks him.

"To get some new glasses. Is that okay? I haven't seen clearly with these for years."

"Didn't you hear Simone? It's dangerous here." Beatrice chides. "If it starts raining we'll be trapped here. You have five minutes."

"That's fine."

"I'll join him." Lea assures Beatrice. "Make sure he gets back here." Lea puts her backpack on.

"Do you think Martin is looking for us?" Simone asks Beatrice. I frown and start packing my food away.

"Whatever. I don't need him anymore." I scoff and Beatrice glares at me. Simone looks at me but I just shake my head at her.

"I'm going to look for warmer clothes. I'll be back soon." I tell them. I pick up my bag and pull out my gun. "Don't die." I add before leaving out the back door.

I walk quickly and quietly, trying to avoid all the stores with their windows smashed in where anyone could be lurking.

I make my way to an apartment building and go inside. I start jiggling door handles until I find an apartment that's unlocked and go into it. I lock the door behind me and start looking around. It looks like an old lady lived here. There's knitted blankets and old embroidery everywhere, but it's kind of pretty.

There's a crack of thunder and I glance out the window. It starts to rain and I lock the window tightly before making my way to the bedroom to look in the closet. The clothes are ugly but there is a plain grey sweater that looks warm so I pull it on over my shirt. I dig through the dresser to find a few pairs of clean socks to replace my dirty ones. Once I find the sock drawer I pull off my boots and old dirty socks and replace them with the clean ones. I stuff a few more pairs in my bag before shutting the drawer and sitting on the woman's bed, hoping the rain stops soon.

I get bored quickly and decide to keep going through the woman's things. She's probably dead anyway, maybe she'd like to see me thrive in her old socks. On top of her dresser is a jewelry box and I amuse myself by trying on the gaudy jewelry and a huge pair of sunglasses. I laugh quietly and look at myself in the mirror. I look kind of like Audrey Hepburn… if Audrey Hepburn had been living in the woods for 6 years at least. My sister would have loved it, she always wore huge earrings that drove me crazy. I carefully put the jewelry back but keep the sunglasses.

I realize how quiet it is and look out the window. The rain has let up. I should make sure everyone is still alive. I grab my bag and gun and unlock the front door.

As soon as I leave the apartment, I hear yelling. There's a group of people fighting in the middle of the town. I can sneak past them but I'll have to take the back way. I slowly make my way back to the Burger King and enter through the back door. When I get there I hear more shouting from the front.

"Give him the bag! There's more in the next bunker." I swear under my breath and cock my gun, creeping around the corner of the kitchen and peeking. A man is holding Rasmus with a knife to his throat. I step around the corner and aim my gun at him.

"Let him go!" I demand. The man backs up, still holding Rasmus tightly. "Let him go." The man glances up at me.

"Tell me where there's more food."

"Let him go now or I'll shoot you." I repeat.

"Please…" Beatrice begs him.

"Where is there more food?" There's no way I could shoot the man without him hurting Rasmus. The knife is too close his throat. "Should I stab him?" Martin walks into the Burger King with his gun aimed at the man.

"Let him go! Go on!" He shouts. "Move away. Move now. Rasmus, move away. Come." The man slowly lets Rasmus go but the second he steps away the man stabs him in the stomach. Rasmus screams and drops to the ground. Martin and Simone both grab for him at the same time. The man tries to grab a bag and run but I shoot at him and he scrambles out of the store. Simone screams for Martin to help Rasmus and Martin tries to get her to stop yelling. Martin and Patrick wrap Rasmus' wound in duct tape.

"Fuck, Martin. Shut him up." I shout, worriedly looking at the door the man came from.

"Find something to move him in." Jean and Patrick run outside and find an old shopping cart. Martin picks Rasmus up and puts him in it.

"How far is the bunker?" Martin asks. "Simone? How far?"

"Not far." She stutters. "Across the bridge."

We all start running. Trying to make a mad dash across the bridge without getting caught. Rasmus won't stop screaming. He's going to attract Strangers and scavengers from the city and we'll all be totally fucked but Simone won't let me shut him up.

We get to the bunker and carry Rasmus in the cart up the hill. The door was pried off and hangs off the entrance of the bunker.

"Maybe they're still down there." Simone worries.

"I'll see if it's safe." Martin tells her. He walks into the bunker with his gun drawn. Simone follows him inside. Beatrice tries to calm Rasmus down.

"Come on! Bring him in here." Martin shouts from inside the bunker. Patrick and Jean pick him up and carry him into the bunker. Simone and Martin try to help him and he slowly calms down. Beatrice turns to me angrily.

"Why didn't you shoot him?" She shouts.  
"I couldn't! He would have killed him, Beatrice." Beatrice glares at me. "Beatrice, I couldn't." I try to tell her again. She never listens to me. She storms off and I lean back against the wall and let myself sink to the floor.

Everything always happens so fast after the rain. I never have time to think. That's how Martin likes it I think. If we keep moving, we don't have to think about anyone we've hurt or left to starve. After a few minutes of silence Patrick walks over to me. He sits next to me and nudges my shoulder with his.

"Martin told me to tell you that there's no point in having a gun if you aren't going to use it." I nod. "But, Martin is an ass." He looks over at me and smiles.

"He's right." I whisper. Patrick shakes his head.

"No. I've known you for five years, Celine. You know how to use a gun." I didn't realize I'd balled my hands into fists until he reaches over to uncurl my fingers. "Next time just shoot both of them, yeah?" I laugh at that and he grins.

"Thank you." He nods. "That almost makes up for you taking forever to find us." I add and Patrick raises his eyebrows.

"What?"

"You took forever! Beatrice thought you weren't coming."

"Yeah, I didn't want to." Patrick says and I glare at him.

"You're such an ass, Patrick." He rolls his eyes at me.

"You would have been fine. Simone and the others would get killed and you would come back to the bunker tomorrow." He pokes the sunglasses I still have on my head. "With ugly sunglasses." I laugh.

"I would have walked into the bunker and you and Martin would be crying because you miss me so much."

"No way." Patrick laughs. "I don't cry."

"I'm glad you came." I tell him quietly. Patrick looks back at me and smiles.

"Of course I came." He pauses. "Martin would never let me ditch you." I laugh and shove Patrick's arm. He always ruins the moment.

"Oh, I have a way to make it up to you." He says suddenly.

"What?"

"Guess what." I roll my eyes and make it look like I'm concentrating.

"You and Martin finally kissed?" Patrick rolls his eyes.

"No."

"What then?"

"That thing the Strangers had, it was a map."

"The weird box?"

"Yeah. If you open it up it's a holographic map."

"How'd you get it open?"

"I threw it against the wall. And there was a ball inside of it."

"A ball?"

"A ball of shit. I thought it was hash." I snort.

"Why did you think it was hash?" He shrugs.

"It smelled weird. But I bit into it and it was shit." Wait.

"You bit it?" He nods and I snort again. "You ate shit?"

"No I spit it out!" I start laughing even harder and Patrick quietly laughs too. I collect myself after a minute.

"Thank you for telling me." He nods.

"Don't tell the others." I laugh again but agree. I am never letting him forget this.


	8. Chapter 4 Part 2

_Lieke danced down the middle of the road. I don't know where she got the energy. It seemed like the hungrier and grumpier everyone got, the brighter she shined._

" _Lieke, can't you just walk? You're going to get us all killed." Martin said._

" _Sorry, dad. Some of us like to have fun." She grabbed my hand and spun me in a circle. I laugh with her but pull away._

" _Can't dance. Too tired." I explain. Lieke nods solemnly and looks at Patrick and Martin._

" _Need food." She mimics my short sentences._

" _We're close to the city. But…" Martin trails off. We all know what the city means, hungry people willing to kill for a bite of food. But, that's what everyone is like now. Lieke and Martin's guns are proof of that._

" _Fuck it, let's eat." Patrick decides and we all follow his lead._

 _We find to a small store on the edge of town. It was mostly ransacked but there are a few containers of foods that people weren't willing to eat yet._

" _Lieke, here." I offer her a container of 3 year old yogurt and she wrinkles her nose at me._

" _I'll eat it, if you eat it." She replies. Patrick takes the container out of my hand and pulls off the lid. We both watch him put the container to his mouth, about to take a sip, then gag and drop it._

" _Fuck, that's disgusting." We all laugh._

" _Guys, quit fucking around. We need to leave as soon as we can." Martin scolds us. Lieke gives me a look and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing again. Martin turns around and looks out the window again._

" _Sorry, dad." I said quietly. Martin whirls around and glares at me. Patrick snorts and Martin shifts his glare to him. Patrick holds his hands up in surrender and Martin turns back to the window. Patrick and I go back to the food while Lieke wanders around the store aimlessly. Suddenly Martin curses and my head shoots up to try to see what he sees. Martin rushes over to where Patrick and I are standing and Lieke stares from across the room._

" _Strangers. Hide." He tells us. We hear an SUV door slam and duck._

" _Lieke, come." I call quietly. She shushes me and crawls behind the counter on the opposite side of the store. Martin pulls me onto the floor behind a shelf before I can try to join Lieke on the other side. Patrick crouches in front of Martin and I, hidden behind the shelf but just barely. Boots crunch up path to the store. The bell above the door rings out and the Strangers walk in, letting the door slam behind them._

" _Ya videl kogo-to zdes." The man speaks in what I think is Russian._

" _Vy vidite veshchi posvyudu. Potoropis._ _Eto mesto pakhnet." So, there's two of them, at least._ _The gruff strangers voice gives me goosebumps._

 _There is a small hole in the shelf that I can peek through. I can see the men's legs. Lieke pokes her head around the desk, out of their sight and I meet Lieke's wide eyes across the room. The men started walking towards our shelf and Martin's grip on my arm tightens. I look over at Lieke again but she's ducked back behind the desk. The men walk past the desk she's hidden behind and my heart starts beating against my chest. I let out a small sound, barely even a squeak. Martin slaps his hand over my mouth and Patrick grips onto my other arm, pushing all of us back further. Lieke pokes her head out from the side of the desk, her eyes even wider and I squeeze my own shut._

 _The Strangers walk towards our shelf slowly. Suddenly, I hear a crash from Lieke's side of the building and my eyes shoot open again. I look through the hole and and see Lieke standing in front of the desk she was just hiding behind. The Stranger's turn to her and raise their guns, aiming at her head._

" _Stay where you are!" They shout. Lieke raises her hands in surrender. Her eyes flicker towards us for a split second. She takes a step towards the Strangers._

" _Don't fucking move!" Lieke steps forward, one Stranger shouts and the other one aims his gun at her head. Lieke opens her mouth to speak and the Strangers gun goes off. Bang. Splat. Thud. I dig my nails into Martin's arm and he tightens his grip over my mouth._

" _Fuck, man." The other Stranger shakes his head. The two of them stand silently over Lieke's body for a moment._

" _Let's get out of here." The man steps over Lieke's body and walks out the door, like nothing even happened. The other Stranger follows him slowly, the door slamming behind him on the way out._

 _Martin doesn't take his hand off my mouth until we hear the SUV drive away. He peels my hand off his arm and looks around the shelf, cringing hard and ducking back. He and Patrick share a look, neither really knowing what to do._

" _She's dead?" I whisper. I don't want to look but I need to be sure. Martin nods solemnly. "We have to bury her. Properly." The boys share another look, but neither are willing to deny her a proper burial._

" _Okay." Martin decides. He shrugs off his backpack and gun, dropping them on the floor and standing up. He moves around the shelf, standing in front of Lieke's body. Patrick steadies himself before standing too and following Martin. I take a deep breath, trying to prepare myself, and stand. I cling onto the shelf, trying to summon the courage to look at what's on the other side, when Patrick comes stumbling back and pushes me away. He grabs onto my shoulders and turns me to face the wall._

" _Don't. Don't look." He says quietly. He slowly loosens the grip on my shoulders. "Just stay here, don't look, okay?" I can't answer him, so I nod once, and he walks away to help Martin. I hear them shuffling around for a while, using the back door that leads to the forest. Eventually, they come back to get me._

" _Okay, come on." Martin calls from the back of the store. Patrick comes over to me, shielding my eyes with his hand and guiding me to the back door. Martin is standing in the dirt, next to a hole they've dug. It's small, but it'll work. Lieke's body is at the bottom of it, her head covered with her jacket. Her backpack is by Martin's feet, waiting for us to dig out the important stuff and leave the rest behind._

 _I look down at Lieke. The boys stand silently with me, giving me time to grieve, I guess. Lieke's cross necklace catches my eye and before I can stop myself I reach down into the pit and undo it. I adjust the jacket over her head too before standing up and putting the necklace around my neck._

" _We should say something." I suggest._

" _She was Catholic, yeah?" Martin asks. I nod. "Do you know the prayer?"_

" _No…" I finger the cross around my neck. Patrick shakes his head no too and Martin sighs._

" _Okay. Well, God- Our father," he looks to me for confirmation and I shrug, "Lieke believed in a lot of things. Mostly you. And she died-"_

" _She died trying to protect us." I interject. "So now you have to protect her. That's how it works." Patrick squeezes my shoulder._

" _Yes." Martin agrees. "As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death… we take a look at our lives."_

" _That's the song, Martin." Patrick stops him and I start laughing and crying at the same time. This is a mess. I think she would have thought it was funny, though. Way better than some stuffy funeral in a church filled with people you barely new. Martin and Patrick share a concerned look and after a few more seconds, I finally get myself together enough to speak._

" _We lived together, we survived together, she died for us… and now we survive for her." I decide. I pick up a handful of dirt and sprinkle it over the jacket._

" _Yeah, okay." Patrick agrees. He sprinkles a handful of dirt over Lieke too and we both step away from her makeshift grave._

" _Okay." Martin agrees too. He picks up the plastic dust pan he'd used as a shovel and starts pushing the dirt back into the grave. I kneel down to help him, while Patrick goes through Lieke's bag._

 _Once we get her body covered, Patrick comes over with a cross he's made out of sticks._

" _Good?" He asks. I nod and he sticks it at the head of the grave. Martin and I stand up and try to brush the dirt off our clothes. Patrick brings us our backpacks, with Lieke's things separated between us._

" _We aren't staying here." Martin decides, like Patrick or I would disagree with him. "There's a house down the road, away from the city. We can sleep there tonight."_


	9. Chapter 5

Simone has a plan to draw the Strangers out. She wants to ambush them and steal their car. I think she's fucking nuts. Maybe she really has been stuck in that bunker for six years, that's the only way anyone would want to get the Stranger's attention on purpose. She's going to get us all killed but Martin can't see past her doe eyes long enough to realize it.

The plan goes like this; First, me, Lea, Jean, Patrick, and Martin sneak through the trees and under the bridge and in to the tower. Then, Simone then runs in plain sight over the bridge and through the city which will lead the Strangers to the tower that we're hiding in. Then, I guess we ambush them? I don't know. That's about the point where I stopped listening and started flicking Patrick in the ear until Martin yelled at me.

It doesn't take long for the Strangers to spot Simone and follow her straight into our trap. Three of them come storming out of their SUV, guns drawn. Simone puts her hands up in surrender and they force her further into the tower. Martin shoots their drone out of the air, startling them. Jean, Lea, and Patrick use the distraction to sneak out of the shadows, knock them out, and take their weapons.

"Jean, tie them up." Martin instructs.

"Let's just whack them." Patrick suggests.

"That wasn't the deal. We just want their car." Simone protests. I roll my eyes at her naivety.

"It's like you live in a fucking cartoon." Patrick chastises her.

"Yeah, okay. Sometimes you're a total asshole." Simone bites back.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Patrick walks towards her menacingly.

"Patrick, we'll question them first." Martin says, interrupting Patrick and Simone.

"About what? Where they buy their clothes? What they had for breakfast?"

"Just go start the car." Martin tells him and Patrick throws his weapon on the ground and storms off. "Good job, Simone."

Jean and Lea finish tying up the Strangers and we sit them up against the wall. It doesn't take long for them to wake up and when they do Martin doesn't waste any time before questioning them. He sets up the map in front of the men and speaks to them in English. I really should have paid more attention in school because I only understand a few words. One of the men speaks. He must have said something annoying because Martin kicks the guy next to him in the face. It startles me and I clench the gun in my hand tightly and ball my other hand into a fist.

"Answer it." Martin tells them.

"I don't think kicking them will help." Simone points out snidely. Martin scoffs at her.

"Fine. You do it, but don't remove their masks. It will only make it harder to kill them." Martin tells her, annoyed. He leaves to talk to Patrick and Simone squats in front of the Strangers. She speaks to them in English like Martin. They don't respond to her and Simone reaches forward to remove their masks.

"What are you doing, Simone?" Jean asks nervously.

Simone ignores him, asking the men her question again. He laughs in her face and says something to her.

"Don't tell that bitch anything." One of the other men says, reaching for his mask with his bound hands. Jean steps backwards, keeping his wide eyes on the Stranger. He grabs my arm roughly and calls out for Martin and Patrick.

"We have to kill them." He insists. Martin and Patrick walk back over to us calmly.

"Did they talk yet?" Martin asks Simone.

"No. They haven't."

"Hey." Jean hits me with his stick to get my attention and points to one of the Strangers. "Do him first. The tattooed guy."

"Why?" I ask, confused by Jean's out of character blood lust.

"Just because."

"Whatever. We'll kill all three of them." I tell Jean, hoping to calm him a bit. I flip the safety off my gun

"Everyone go to the car." Martin commands.

"Seriously?" He nods at me.

"You promised not to kill them." Simone reminds us.

"Martin promised. Not me." I point out. It's better if we kill them. They would do the same to us and if we don't they'll just follow us wherever we go and kill us later.

"Celine, no." Martin pushes me back. "I'll do it. Go to the car."

"Why? It's not the first time and it won't be the last."

"Just go."

"Why are you being weird?" He gives me a 'do what I say or regret it' glare and I roll my eyes at him. Whatever. He needs to get laid so he can stop being so fricken crabby. I follow Simone out of the tower. Three gunshots ring out, making everyone pause before piling into the SUV. Jean starts sniffling and rubbing at his eyes.

"Are you okay, Jean?" Lea asks him. He nods and she scoots closer to him. Martin comes stomping over to the SUV.

"Get in. Let's get the others." I climb into the backseat.

After driving across the bridge we pick up Beatrice and Rasmus and I'm forced to sit in the front seat, squished between Patrick and Martin. The drive is almost nice. It's quiet and the fog is really pretty. I would sleep if it weren't for Martin's bony legs taking up all my space and Patrick's elbow digging into my arm while he drives.

"Where are we going?" Patrick asks, breaking the silence.

"Lilla Bijärred." Martin answers.

"What the fuck is that?"

"A town." Martin tells him shortly.

"Lilla Bijärred." Patrick repeats, testing the name of it for himself. "Sounds like something you do on the can. I'm gonna go dump a little Bijärred." Jean laughs at Patrick joke but drops his smile when he sees that no one else is laughing. Patrick nudges me with his elbow when I don't laugh at his joke. I roll my eyes but give him an amused smile.

"What?" Martin demands suddenly, eyeing Simone in the rear view mirror.

"They didn't have to die." She explains.

"No. But we can't be on our best behavior if it ends up killing us, can we?"

"No, but you've gotta start somewhere."

"They deserved to die, Simone." Patrick says, ending the conversation. The mood in the car is tense. But at least we're dry.

* * *

Simone bangs on the door of the barn. I definitely believe that she was locked in that bunker for six years. Either that, or she's just really fucking stupid and wants to get us all killed. Martin trusts her enough to follow her around the barn like a puppy, but he doesn't ease his grip on his gun. Everyone else wanders, except Beatrice who's worrying over Rasmus in the SUV until we find the doctor.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Simone calls out again. She sighs and drops her hand, walking back towards the SUV. A door swings open and a woman jumps out, pointing a shotgun in Simone and Jean's face.

"Stop!" She shouts. "Go away!" She walks towards them, forcing them back towards the SUV.

"Please… it's my brother." Simone begs. "You're a doctor, right?"

"Who sent you?" The doctor asks, not lowering her gun.

"A man-"

"Where'd you get that?" She cuts Simone off and points at the drone in Jean's hand with her gun. Jean hides it behind his back.

"We found it." Simone explains.

"Who are you?" The doctor asks, swinging her gun towards us wildly. I keep my gun at my side, so she doesn't start shooting at us, but keep my finger on the trigger.

"We just need help. You can help us." Simone tries to explain.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The doctor denies. "Go!"

"We're not leaving." Martin says, stepping forward and dragging Rasmus by his side. "If you can, you'll help."

"What happened?" The doctors asks hesitantly.

"He got stabbed in the stomach. He needs a surgeon or he'll die." The doctor steps aside and nods her head towards the door.

"Go ahead." She keeps her gun aimed on Martin and Rasmus but lets them into her barn. Simone follows them in and the doctor swings her gun towards us. "The rest of you, stay out here." She backs into the barn and slams the door behind her.

Lea, Jean, Beatrice, Patrick, and I all lounge around outside the barn. It's cloudy but not rain cloudy and the flowers around here are beautiful. I lie on the ground with my head in the grass and look up at the clouds, soaking up the silence until it becomes overwhelming.

"I don't trust her." I start, sitting up so I can talk.

"Who?" Jean asks.

"The doctor."

"You don't trust anyone, Celine." Lea reminds me. I glare at her playfully.

"Whatever. Just making conversation." Lea laughs and I lay back in the grass.

Not long after, Rasmus comes out of the barn, followed by his sister and the doctor. He's got a big smile on his face, a huge improvement from before when he looked like a zombie.

"You're whole again?" Beatrice asks with a smile.

"I'm all stitched up." He agrees.

"Let's get going then."

"Rasmus needs a shot." Simone explains. I shoot Lea an 'I told you so' look and she rolls her eyes at me.

"Just stay here. Have some tea." The doctor tells us. She leads Rasmus away but Martin stops Simone.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, we'll be right back." He nods and she follows after her brother. Martin turns back towards us and meets Beatrice's annoyed gaze.

"You'd rather go with her?" She asks.

"Oh, cut it out. Go have some tea." He dismisses her and she glares. Everyone sits quietly, not willing to make a move and be snapped at by Beatrice or Martin. It lasts a total of five minutes before Patrick gets pissed and bored.

"What's taking them so long?" Jean asks.

"All we ever fucking do is wait for them." Patrick complains.

"They'll be here, okay?" Lea tries to calm him down.

"Let's see what she's got." Patrick suggests, throwing his bag over his shoulders.

"You're going to rob her?" Beatrice asks him.

"Why not?"

"Because she helped us." Beatrice explains.

"Let's just take a look around." Patrick suggests.

"I've had it." Beatrice complains, standing up and grabbing her things. "Let's go."

"Where?" Jean asks.

"To find the others."

"No." Martin stops her. "You're staying here."

"Grab Simone's backpack." Lea instructs Jean, ignoring Martin.

"Beatrice, you're staying." Martin tries.

"Let's go." Beatrice tells Jean. Jean looks torn between Beatrice and Martin.

"Come, Jean."

"Jean, come here."

"Come. Jean, come."

"Jean, come on."

"Jean, now."

"I'm gonna find some food." Jean stands up and rushes into the barn, avoiding Lea and Beatrice.

"We'll meet back in ten." Martin tells Beatrice.

"I haven't got a watch." Beatrice says before storming off, Lea at her side. Martin looks down at me expectantly and I raise an eyebrow.

"If you tell me to come, I'll shoot you in the foot." I warn. He holds a hand out for me and I use it to stand. "I'm gonna look in the other building."

"Why?"

"Cause I can." Martin glares at me but gives in.

"Fine. Gun?"

"Yes, Martin." He has a knack for making me feel like a kid going off to school and forgetting their lunch. Except their lunch is a gun, and their school is an apocalypse or something. I don't know. It's not a very good analogy.

I go into the smaller building. This must be where she sleeps, cause it's filled with blankets and supplies. I drop to my knees and start stuffing some of her gauze and bandages into my backpack when I hear more noises outside. I assume it's just the boys until I hear voices I don't recognize. I sneak over to the window just in time to see Jean running at one of the Strangers with a gun.

"Hey!" The Stranger turns around and shoots him in the face. I slap my hand over my mouth to keep from making any noise and duck out of the window. Fuck. Fuck. _Fuck._

I look back out the window and Jean is still standing there with the gun. He has his arms up in surrender and the Strangers run towards him. One of them knocks Jean onto the ground and the three Strangers drag him into their SUV. I want to make a run for it but I won't make it. Two Strangers are coming towards the building I'm in. I shove my bag into the corner and duck into the other side of the room, pulling a pile of blankets over me and hoping they don't want them.

I can hear his footsteps creak over the old wooden floors. He walks into the room, slowly casing the place. He walks towards me and I squeeze my eyes shut and digging my nails into my hand so I'll stay quiet. I don't move until his footsteps pass me and go back outside the building. Then I stay under the blankets for a few more seconds, just to be safe. I peek my eyes out. The guards are heading back to their SUVs and I slip out of the blankets, trying not to let them see me through the windows. Once I get untangled, I grab my bag and slide it over my shoulders, sneaking out the back door and sprinting across the field behind the barn. If they left me I'm going to be so fucking pissed.

"Celine!" I can see them now, six little black dots on the other side of the field. I don't stop running until I collide with Patrick.

"Patrick!" He cups my face with his hands and looks me over quickly.

"You're alive."

"Yeah but-" He passes me over to Martin, who steadies me, before going into another bunker. A few seconds later, a gunshot echoes out of the bunker. Martin squeezes my arm and doesn't let go until Patrick comes back out with Simone and Rasmus trailing behind him. Beatrice and Lea come running over to us.

"Are you okay?" Lea asks, helping Simone out.

"What's going on? What the fuck happened?" Martin worries.

"The doctor stays here." Patrick tells him. "Let's get out of here." Patrick runs to thee front of the group and leads everyone into the woods. We all follow but I lag in the back and Martin stays in the back with me.

"Martin, Jean… he-" I can't speak above a whisper.

"I know, Celine." He whispers back.

"He-"

"Yeah."

"And Lieke…" Martin stops walking and I smack into his back. Everyone else keeps walking. He turns around, grabbing my shoulders and leans down so our faces are inches apart.

"Jean is not Lieke. Move on." Tears burn at my eyes and Martin is holding my shoulders too tightly for me to wipe them away. "There's nothing we can do. You have to move on. Okay?"

"Hey!" Patrick calls from the front of the group. Everyone turns to look back at us. Martin turns back to me and presses a kiss to my forehead before going to the front of the group. I rub the tears out of my eyes harshly and everyone keeps walking.

He's right. I mean, he sounds like a total dick, but he's right. I can't do anything for them. I can't bring them back from the dead. And I can't cry over them forever. I need to move on. Literally and figuratively. Everyone is far ahead of me now and I have to rush to catch up with them.

* * *

It was a bad day. And now it's the kind of night where the rain matches everyone's mood. Lea's hushed crying echoes through the barn and shoots directly into my heart. I had gotten all of my tears out on the walk here. Lingering in the back of the group, silently crying and hoping no one turned around. I started a small fire, with the help of Rasmus. And Beatrice sat Lea down in front of it, letting her cry on her shoulder. Rasmus sat next to Lea, trying to comfort her the way a little kid would and his sister sat a bit away. Martin comes into the barn with a sullen expression that only gets worse when he sees Lea.

"Where's Patrick?"

"He's fine." Martin brushes past me and sits behind Lea. Patrick comes in a few seconds later and sits on the opposite side of Lea. Then, Martin gets up and storms over to the door. _Boys_. I sit next to Patrick, ignoring how he turns away from me the second I sit down. Slowly, as people start to fall asleep, Patrick sits closer to me. The fire is down to one log before Patrick leans his head in my lap. I sink my nails into his hair, brushing it away from his face. His body shakes slightly and I pretend I don't notice.

"Goodnight, Patrick."


	10. Chapter 5 Part 2

_We haven't eaten in three days. The only thing in my stomach is water and I can hear it sloshing around as we walk. Martin won't give up or slow down. I don't know what he thinks he's going to find. Everywhere we go it's the same. He's walking us to death. We're all- Ah. Fuck. I_

 _Patrick heard me trip. He comes over to help me up but I'm too tired to stand on my own. He hoists me up and wraps my arm around his shoulders and notices the scrapes my my palms from trying to catch myself._

" _Martin! Let's stop for the night." Martin stops walking and looks back at us. He looks nervously around the woods we're in._

" _We should keep moving." He decides._

" _Celine can't keep walking, man. Look at her." Patrick insists. I try to glare at him but it just looks pitiful. Martin sighs._

" _Fine. C'mon, let's find somewhere to sleep." Martin finally agrees. He starts walking again, this time towards the road where there are old buildings to shelter us from the rain. Patrick helps me hobble along behind Martin and quickly enough we find an old shed. The windows are busted but it's safe enough for the night. Patrick sets me against the wall and I lean my head against it tiredly while he and Martin set up for the night._

 _I fall asleep quickly but wake up barely an hour later with sharp pangs in my stomach. I can't stop myself from groaning loudly, which wakes up Patrick and scares Martin who was keeping watch. A pang hits me again and I grit my teeth, feeling a wave of nausea right after. Martin kneels next to me and makes me sit up._

" _What's wrong with her?" Patrick asks tiredly but still concerned._

" _Nothing." I mumble. Martin pushes my head up roughly to look me in the eyes. "I'm just hungry. It hurts."_

" _Here." Martin hands me a canteen with water but I push it away._

" _I can't have more water, it's making me sick."_

 _Patrick sits up and scoots closer to me for support. Martin stares at me for a second, giving me his serious soldier face, before turning around and scratching at the dirt on the floor. He gets a handful of it and turns back to me, shoving the dirt towards my mouth._

" _Here. Open you mouth." Martin commands._

" _Are you crazy man?" Patrick asks._

" _I'm not eating dirt, Martin." I shove his hand away from me and he pushes it towards me again._

" _It'll make your stomach stop hurting." He tries to explain._

" _It'll make me sick!"_

" _Only if you eat a lot. Just enough to soak up the water and fill your stomach."_

" _No, Martin!"_

" _Celine, open your mouth." I keep my mouth shut tightly. Martin sighs. He looks at Patrick and they have a silent conversation. Seconds later, Patrick grabs my shoulders and wraps his arms around me, holding my arms down. Martin grabs my chin and tries to pry my mouth open._

" _Just eat it." Martin says, struggling to get my mouth open._

" _Celine, it will make you feel better .We'll get real food tomorrow but only if you can walk all the way to the city." Patrick tries to convince me, all the while holding my arms down so I can't fight against Martin._

 _I try to protest again but the second I open my mouth Martin shoves the handful of dirt in it. He holds his hand over my mouth._

" _Swallow."_

" _Mm-mm."_

" _Celine, swallow. I'm not kidding." Martin glares at me, still holding his hand over my mouth so I have no choice but to swallow the dirt in my mouth. It coats my mouth, mixing with my spit and turning to mud. Patrick keeps my arms stuck by my sides, so Martin just pours water into my mouth instead of handing me the canteen._

" _Why are you torturing me?" I finally choke out, gagging on the dirt._

" _We're helping you." Patrick tries to reason._

" _Fuck you." I spit more dirt out of my mouth._

" _Celine, the dirt will fill your stomach until we can get food. You'll only puke if you eat too much. Trust me." Martin tries to calm me down while scooping up more dirt. "Here."_

" _No, Martin. It's too much." I complain. He gets a smaller handful and holds it out to me, holding the canteen in his other hand._

" _Here." Martin pushes the dirt towards me._

" _No."_

" _Celine," Patrick sighs, "your stomach hurts. You can't sleep. Just pretend it's chocolate or something."_

" _Fuck you." I grumble. They're right, which pisses me off more. Plus, if I do puke I could probably get Martin to carry me on his back instead of walking. And my stomach is painfully empty. Fuck. I take a small bit off the dirt from Martin and swallow it, swishing the water around my mouth right after. Patrick loosens his grip on my arms._

" _Not so bad, hm?" Martin asks, almost smirking._

" _It's horrible and I hate you." Martin fully smirks at that._

" _Just a little bit more." He tells me._

" _Are you going to eat it?" Martin snorts and shakes his head no. I turn to Patrick._

" _I'm not hungry." He answers quickly. Martin snorts again._

" _I hate both of you. So much."_


	11. Chapter 6

Hi! I randomly got inspiration to write for this again (finally!). Hopefully I will have another chapter out soon. I'm leaving for my sisters house for a while and I will have to share a computer so it might not be THAT soon. Also, sorry for ending every chapter with Celine falling asleep lmao. I realized that earlier and I feel like a 12 year old now. I'll do better. Hope you all enjoy and I will be back again soon!

* * *

I knew we should have left Simone and Rasmus in that stupid bunker. At least Simone… Rasmus is growing on me. But stupid Simone is lost again and stupid Martin is just letting us wander around aimlessly. It's always ' _take your time, Simone_ ' and 'i _t's okay if you're lost, Simone, we'll just freeze to death out here. Don't worry about it!_ ' until I do something wrong then he's all ' _hurry up, Celine_ ' or ' _stop doing that, Celine, you'll get us all killed_ '. Fucking Simone. Fucking Martin. I hate them. My feet hurt. I want a nap! I hate everything.

"Where are we going? It's gonna rain anytime now." Patrick complains as Lea and SImone throw the drone into the air again.

"I don't know." Simone admits.

"Why not? You've had a map in your head for two weeks and now there's a techno map. Where's the fucking bunker?"

"Patrick, this place isn't on the map." She explains.

"So your memory is going to get us killed?" He asks.

"See for yourself. It doesn't work!" She says, fed up with Patrick's badgering.

"Let her think." Martin chides Patrick. Patrick and Beatrice give him equally annoyed looks.

"You're defending her now? Great, Martin."

"Shut up, Patrick. You idiot." Rasmus butts in.

"What?" Patrick asks menacingly, taking a step towards Rasmus. "Do you want to get slapped?" Beatrice and Lea both jump in, pushing Patrick away. Lea pushes him up the hill and away from the group.

"Take your time." Martin tells Simone. I share an annoyed look with Beatrice.

"This place isn't even on the map." Simone says.

"Then fuck the map. I want to get out of the woods." I complain. "I want to eat."

Simone sighs and stares harder at the map, willing it to show the bunker that's obviously not there. It's probably some fucked up security detail that's going to get us killed. Fucking Simone and her weird fucking bunkers. Lea and Patrick come sliding back down the hill frantically.

"There's a big hose over there. A mansion, we should go check it out." Lea tells Martin. "If someone lives there, they can let us in. Or Celine can crawl through the window. Either way we need to get to shelter before it rains."

"It's creepy." Patrick adds helpfully. Thunder rumbles over our heads and Martin sighs, standing to his full height.

"Fuck it. Let's check it out." Lea smiles and Simone puts her map away. Lea and Patrick lead us up the hill and we can finally see the huge house. It looks like something out of a gothic novel but the clouds above our heads make the house look like a five star hotel, especially compared to the dilapidated barns and office buildings we've been sleeping in. Martin pulls out his gun and signals for me to do the same.

"We don't know who lives there." Martin worries. "Why isn't it on the map? It could be Strangers."

"Then we'll kill them." Patrick tells him.

"Do you know how many there are?"

"It's that or the rain. It's gonna pour any second."

"Do you want to come in?" A voice asks, startling us. Martin and I raise our guns and aim them at the strange man in the blue jumpsuit.

"Stay there. Don't move." Martin commands. The man gives us a friendly yet unimpressed look.

"Put those down. I won't harm you." He tells us calmly. "You're welcome inside, but no weapons."

"I'm not handing over my weapon." Martin tells him. Two women in matching jumpsuits come down the steps behind us, surrounding our group.

"We are peaceful people." The man tells us.

"How can I be sure?" Martin asks suspiciously.

"You can't. But you can choose to believe me." He says.

"Don't give them your gun." Patrick advises.

"You have to hand in your weapons or we won't let you in." The man says.

"Martin." Simone begs.

"Martin, come on." Beatrice joins her. Lighting crackles above our heads. "It's going to start raining. We need to get inside."

Martin submits, handing his gun to the man. He takes mine out of my hands and gives it to them as well. The women usher us inside and seconds later rain starts pelting the windows.

"Come in! Come in." The older woman beckons. She leads us into a large room, filled with people wearing identical jumpsuits and smiles. The six of us are surrounded by them.

"What is this place?" Beatrice asks the man from outside. His smile widens.

"All you need to know is that once you enter, you're part of us. Nothing outside can touch you. Whatever you used to be, all your problems your worries… are gone." Patrick's arm bumps into mine and I wrap my hand around it. "There is no past here, only you, right now."

Rasmus bends forward, clutching his stomach and groaning quietly. Whispers break out among the strangers and they all back away from us.

"Is he infected?" The leader asks.

"Rasmus? No, he had an accident." Simone explains, letting her brother lean on her.

"You need to sleep." The older woman says. "You're tired. Come with me."

She leads us into another room. She lets us in and shuts the door behind us. The lock clicks into place loudly and Martin rushes over. He jiggles the handle but the door won't open.

"She locked the door. They locked us in." He says with disbelief. "Why the hell did we come in here?" Simone helps Rasmus sit down. Lea and Beatrice roll out the bed mats they left for us.

"You should have kept the gun." Patrick complains.

"We're moving on as soon as the rain stops." Martin decides.

"Kind of hard when we're locked up." Patrick points out. Martin turns to glare at him and Patrick gives him a tired look in return.

"You think this is fucking funny?"

"No." Patrick answers simply. He slumps against the wall while Martin paces. Lea watches the rain pound against the windows and the lightning lights up the room. The whole situation is making everyone tense. Not like our group isn't grumpy anyway but the creepy little weirdos in their creepy little outfits are making the rain seem like a good alternative.

"I can keep watch." I offer, joining Martin next to the window. He shakes his head 'no' silently and keeps the pissy look on his face.

"Go to sleep. You haven't slept in days." He says.

"I can't sleep. I'll keep watch." I offer again.

"No." He says.

"Martin-" He cuts me off with his best dad glare.

"Celine, come." Lea calls. "Sit by me and Patrick." She pats the mat between the two of them and gestures for me to come over. Patrick watches out of the corner of his eyes and pretends not to. I glare at Martin, just so he doesn't think I'm going to follow his orders and join Lea and Patrick on the mats. Lea pulls my head to her shoulder and pulls Patrick so he's pressed against my other side. "There. Now sleep, you'll be okay."

It's warm between Lea and Patrick but I still don't sleep well.

* * *

The door creaks loudly as it's opened. Everyone shoots up, either woken up by the noise or by the person next to them elbowing them in the kidney without even noticing or saying sorry. The older woman from last night walks in with a gentle smile on her face.

"Good morning." She greets. She looks down at Rasmus. "How is he doing? Is he alive?"

"He is." Simone answers, shaking her brother awake. The woman smiles again.

"Breakfast is ready." She tells us.

"You have food?" Patrick asks skeptically.

"Yes, of course there's food." She laughs. Lea turns to Martin.

"Are we going to eat?" He shrugs at her in response and Lea turns to the woman. "Thank you."

She gives us a few minutes to wake up and get ready before leading us outside. Other than making us leave our bags in the room we slept in, the house doesn't seem as sinister as it did in the dark. The people are still wearing creepy matching cult outfits but their smiles don't look like they're going to eat me. And for once, the sun is shining.

Once we're ready, the older woman leads us outside and into a garden. She stops a man with a wagon full of vegetables and picks out a plump tomato. She offers the fruit to Lea, who gives her a look like she's crazy. The woman just smiles and bites into the tomato. I can't help but flinch and take a step back, bumping into Martin and Patrick. But instead of choking and dying like everyone else who's eaten post-rain food, she's fine.

"It's alright. Don't be scared." She says calmly. She leads us through the garden and into the other side of the building. After we take off our muddy shoes, she lets us into a big shower room.

The shower room would be beautiful if it weren't filled with death traps. There are marble walls between each stall and high windows that let light into the room.

"Go on down." The woman insists. "You must wash away the outside world. It's nice in here, isn't it? Now, I want you to take off your clothes so we can wash them. When you've showered, there's a change of clothes for each of you in the stalls."

"You're not asking us to get wet, are you?" Simone asks, echoing what we're all thinking. The woman laughs.

"Well, how else would you shower? Don't worry. We have our own well and we clean the water. Nothing here is dangerous."

"Like the tomatoes?" Lea asks.

"Exactly." The woman agrees. "Just like the tomatoes."

"Okay." Lea agrees awkwardly. None of us make a move for the showers and the woman gives us a playful look.

"You don't believe me? I see you're still skeptical. Wait and see, then. Look at this." She steps into one of the showers and turns it on. Everyone but Lea steps back. The woman cups the water in her hands and splashes it on her face. When nothing happens, she gets under the stream and soaks herself. We all take another step back, except Lea. The woman smiles, turns off the faucet and steps out of the shower, causing us all to take another step away. Martin calls for Lea to move away from the woman.

"No. It's okay." Lea reassures him. The woman smiles down at her.

"Not everything can be explained. But I see that you want to believe." She reaches out and grabs Lea's cross necklace. "You're safe to do that here." She pets Lea's cheek affectionately with her wet hand and leaves. Lea touches her cheek and turns back to us with a shocked expression.

"Jesus Christ." Martin mutters. He makes sure the woman is gone before turning to all of us. "Okay, we're getting out of here. Put on your shoes." He decides.

"We're in no hurry, Martin." Lea assures him.

"Lea, put on your shoes." He repeats.

"I know you're only trying to protect us, but maybe we should stay here a while. It's not dangerous." She says.

"Maybe not. But isn't it odd to come to a strange place and be offered tomatoes and showers?" He says.

"Sure it is, Martin." Lea says, her voice not showing the same distrust as Martin's.

"Okay, so, put on your shoes." He says.

"No." Lea starts taking off her sweater. Martin watches in disbelief as Patrick and Beatrice follow Lea's lead, taking off their jackets. "Martin, come on."

"Okay, do whatever the hell you want." Martin glares. Everyone starts stripping but I can't bring myself to do the same. Even after seeing the woman in the shower, I just can't. I'm not dying in some freaky cult shower. Fuck it.

"Martin, wait." I call out. He pauses by the door and Beatrice and Patrick give me annoyed and surprised looks. I jam my feet into my shoes and run up the stairs.

"Celine, seriously?" Patrick asks, still standing half naked outside the shower. I give him a guilty look but follow Martin out the door.

"At least someone has some sense." He mutters, stomping back through the garden.

"Says the guy who gave them my gun." I mutter back and Martin glares harshly at me.

"We could have died in the rain last night." He points out.

"Oh great, now we get to die in some weird farm. Cause that's _way_ better."

"Shut up."

"You shut up." Martin glares at me again before wrenching open a random door. He goes inside, instantly switching into sneaky mode, and creeps down the hallway.

I follow him, mostly because if I don't he'd leave me in this random hallway and I'd die here. This whole section of the house seems creepy and quiet until someone opens a door down the hall and Martin shoves me into what looks like a coat room. I duck behind a shelf. Martin puts himself between me and the door and we hide for a minute until the people in the hallway pass by. Martin starts digging through the shelves while I pull a coat off the hanger, examining it before slipping it on over my sweater. Martin gives me an annoyed look and grabs my arm before dragging me back out to the hallway.

"Martin, where are we going?" I ask as he drags me around the house grounds.

"To get the others. We're leaving." He explains shortly. We go back the way we came, through the garden and into the main house, until we get to the room we slept in last night. Lea, Beatrice, and Patrick are sitting at a table eating while two of the farmies watch over them.

"You aren't eating their food, are you?" Martin asks, storming over to the group.

"Yes, we are, Martin." Lea tells him. Patrick keeps stuffing his face and ignoring Martin's paranoid rant.

"Who are you?" Martin turns to the old woman from last night. "What is this place? How can you have vegetables and bread?"

"Shut the fuck up. They're just trying to live." Patrick says, finally taking a break from his food to snap at Martin.

"I found childrens shoes! Do you see any children here?" Martin asks.

"They must have grown up or…" Patrick reasons.

"Or what?" Martin cuts him off. The man who let us in last night comes into the room, his eyes instantly fixating on Martin.

"What do you mean?" The man asks. "They're right outside, playing." Martin turns to look out the window where little kids are playing.

"You're interrupting their meal. And we don't wear our old clothes here." The man chides, pointing to mine and Martin's dirty clothes.

"Yeah, what's with this hippy shit?" Martin asks rudely, pointing to the man's clothes. "Are you a cult?"

"I understand you have your doubts, your questions… your distrust towards others. I, too, have had that nagging doubt. Who can I believe? Can I trust anyone out there? But we've done away with those doubts here."

"Just like that?" Martin asks sarcastically. "How did you do that?"

"By melting into one." The man explains. "It all boils down to: what do I fear if I don't exist? We are one and we are now. That's all that matters. Is it good?" He asks, grabbing Patrick's shoulder.

"It's delicious." Patrick tells him, his mouth still full of food.

"Good." The man turns back to Martin. "We have no past, no name, no gender. It's the end of the world, but we're right here, right now, and that's what matters."

"Do you even hear what you're saying? That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard." Martin exclaims. I can't help but be grateful for Martin when he says it. This place is freaky and everyone is just buying into it. Maybe they clean out the water and replace the deadly shit with drugs. That's why everyone is so crazy.

"Be quiet, Martin." Beatrice chides. "They're trying to help us."

"It's all right." The man soothes Beatrice. "It takes longer for some of us to accept that people are good. If you're done eating, we'll show you to your new rooms." The three of them shove the last few bites of food in their mouths and stand. The man gestures to the older woman and she leads us up a flight of stairs.

"We have three spare rooms. You can decide who sleeps where." She explains. She shows us the rooms and leaves, giving us time to settle in. Lea follows her out.

"Simone and Rasmus can share." Beatrice decides quickly. "Rasmus is sick. He'll need her. Lea and I can share, or I can share with Martin. I don't care."

"Rasmus?" One of the creepy cult guys enters the hallway and looks between our group.

"What?" Rasmus asks, confused.

"I'm a doctor. I'll look at your wound." The man explains. Rasmus nods and starts to follow the man before Simone grabs his arm. She gives him a warning look and follows the man first, putting herself between them. Rasmus follows his sister, leaving just me, Beatrice, and Patrick. Beatrice stares at the empty hallway where Rasmus just was for a second before huffing and going into a random bedroom. Patrick watched Beatrice leave with a bored look on his face before turning back to me. I didn't know what to say so I just picked the closest bedroom. Patrick followed me in, so I guess we're sharing a room.

He sits next to me on the bed and it feels sort of strange. I mean, we've known each other for years now but we've never been in a real house on a real bed. Just old dilapidated houses and dirt floors.

"You smell good." I say. A few seconds later my brain catches up with my mouth and I can barely hold back a wince. It must be the cult making me act so fucking weird. Patrick snorts.

"You smell like shit. You should have taken a shower." He says, laughing. His assholery makes it unweird and I lounge back on the bed. He lays next to me, taking up more than his half of the pillow.

"Yeah. Tell me that again when you start meditating and buying the whole 'we are one, i am none' thing." I say. Patrick laughs again.

"I don't have to believe it for them to give me food. I just have to make them think I believe it." He says, like he's the smartest man in the world. The mention of food makes my stomach rumble. Martin's ranting didn't give me time to eat anything, not that I'm sure I would have. I'm still not sold on the 'safe' tomatoes.

"You didn't eat?" Patrick asks. I shake my head no and he rolls his eyes. "Stay here. I'll find something for you."

Patrick stands up and I sink deeper into the mattress. A real mattress, with a real pillow, and neither smell like mold or have little animals living inside them. I think I'm asleep before Patrick is even out of the room.


End file.
